Protestants Request Release of Prisoners In Northern Ireland

Published: December 24, 1994

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, Dec. 23—
Protestant politicians in Northern Ireland pressed Britain today to release hundreds of pro-Unionist prisoners after the Irish Government freed nine members of the Irish Republican Army and gave 30 parole for Christmas.

Two small Protestant political parties with links to guerrillas who fought to keep Northern Ireland British said they would raise the prisoner issue in talks with British officials.

Britain has allowed 350 prisoners from both sides to go home for Christmas this year, about 100 fewer than in 1993, and has rejected appeals for a more sweeping amnesty.

"It's not prisoners' parole that's at the top of our agenda -- it's the release of prisoners," said Billy Hutchinson of the Progressive Unionist Party before starting talks with British officials in Belfast.

The prisoners freed by Ireland were to have been released in November, but their release orders were rescinded after I.R.A. gunmen killed a postal worker in a robbery.

Britain refuses to grant amnesty to hundreds of I.R.A. and Protestant prisoners despite appeals to make a gesture of clemency to reward both groups for declaring cease-fires in September.

British officials say those in jail for security offenses in Northern Ireland are not political prisoners and are not entitled to special treatment.